"Loved it" a Beirut Travel Page by stappm

Very exciting things happening in Beirut right now. I in NO WAY felt threatened by all the western media hype about Lebanon being unsafe at the moment - However I did not wear a US Flag on my T-shirt and kept a VERY low profile. There is a ton of things to see and do in Lebanon from archeology to culture. As a country I believe if they stay on the path of peace Lebanon may very well be the next IT place to go on the Medditeranean.

Rumor had it that people in Lebanon are sincerely nice and it could not have been more true. I left my cell phone in a taxi only to later find it safely returned to my hotel. I was asked to dinner (platonically) numerous times. And I accidentally left souveniers at a hotel and when I dropped back by well over a week later they were holding it for me! If that was in the states they all would have been long gone! Good people!

I enjoyed Lebanon so much I actually cut my trip to Jordan short so I could go back! The culture, the food, the history, the sea.... it is all very good! As far as being Middle East, I would consider Lebanon Middle Eastern Lite. The community, from what I saw, is very cosmopolitan, diverse, and educated. Womens rights have been taken care of..... I mean every country could perhaps do more, the US among them,.... but they are very western in that regard and I in no way felt second class due to my gender (as I have felt, very recently in fact, in other Middle Eastern countries.)